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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cap · drill · leaves · shower · wake · file · sharp · key

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. file — a line of people
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. wake — a trail
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. key — for a lock
  8. key — the most important part
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cap — a hat
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. file — a tool
  13. key — in music
  14. file — a document
  15. cap — a lid
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. drill — a practice
  19. cap — of ice
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com